GSA Gets Green in New Carrollton

Washington, DC -- GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini launched new green construction at the the IRS New Carrollton Financial Service Center today. The New Carrollton facility is one of two new Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC) projects in the Washington, DC Metro Area. The new construction delivers on the Obama administration’s goal to acquire $2 billion in energy efficiency upgrades at federal buildings over the next three years. The agency, in conjunction with Ameresco, today recognized the beginning of construction of energy reduction retrofits and on-site renewable energy at the New Carrollton federal building and the Silver Spring Metro Center 1 building in Maryland.

These improvements will create 60 percent overall energy savings in both facilities. That means we will reduce our Greenhouse Gas emissions by over 20,000 tons, which is the equivalent of taking 4,027 cars off the road or providing energy to 1,745 homes.

New Carrollton Project Details:

Approximately 1 megawatt (MW) of on-site renewable energy will be installed at the New Carrollton federal building utilizing solar and geothermal technologies

The combined projects will result in a 60 percent reduction of total energy at the two facilities, 56 percent water reduction, 10 percent renewable onsite energy creation and an estimated annual reduction of over 20,000 tons of GHG emissions.

Savings in the first year of operation are expected to be nearly $3 million.

This public-private partnership is the latest in GSA’s efforts to increase sustainability across its real estate portfolio. The agency will be greening 50 buildings across the country, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives building, the Veterans Affairs Administration building, the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters, and the William Jefferson Clinton building -- covering nearly 3 million square feet in the DC Metro Area, and 20 million square feet nationwide.

Just a few miles away, in White Oak, Maryland, GSA is continuing and expanding the largest ESPC the Federal government has ever undertaken at the new Drug Administration facility. The project includes the installation of a co-generation plant that provides totally reliable power for the laboratories and other buildings for the Food and Drug Administration. It is so successful that last year, we went completely “off the grid” 71 times, not only did we keep the labs working, we also helped avoid blackouts in the neighboring community.

White Oak Project Details:

The Drug Administration facility is part of a $195 million ESPC for the construction of a central utility plant that will meet the heating, cooling and energy requirements of a 1.2-million-square-foot expansion for the FDA’s Center for Biological Evaluation and Research.

It will also include three 2,500-ton chillers and a 2-million gallon thermal energy storage tank, which can act as a backup for the campus if municipal water services are temporarily lost. In total, the plant will be capable of producing up to 250,000 MW-hours of electricity each year — enough energy to power more than 23,000 homes.

GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said creating a more sustainable government is central to GSA’s mission: "We are committed to doing our part to green the federal government by ensuring that the buildings in our real estate portfolio meet the Obama administration’s green goals. Energy Savings Performance Contracts give us the opportunity to work with industry partners to strengthen these efforts."